National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), Recommended, TSPDT #872

I’m surprised that it took me this long to get around to this film. I grew up on Revenge Of The Nerds, which is almost the same movie as this one. Animal House is about a fraternity that takes in the non-conformist, unpopular, and trailblazing students. We get roughly a year in the life of this frat. They go from being in the dean’s sights to being allowed to exist if they will stop causing the campus anymore trouble.

It’s not all that raunchy even by late 1970’s standards. Instead, it’s just fun and heartwarming. Watching it about 30 years later, it was like looking through somebody’s high school yearbook.

Vir Cotto (Stephen Furst) of Babylon 5

Karen Allen of Indiana Jones

Amadeus (Tom Hulce) Goes To A Toga Party

The one thing that really stands out about this film is when it takes place. It was from 1978, but it was set in 1962. A period of time when the conformity of the 1950’s was still in full swing, being an American male meant a free tour of Southeast Asia, and JFK was telling everyone to find a purpose and meaning in their lives in order to better the United States. So for a film to be set about a bunch of outsiders who just wanted to do their own thing during that period makes it stand out from other college films that have followed.